Inflation goes down in most regions in August

The slowdown of price growth became possible owing to expanded supply of domestic and imported food products, moderate consumer sentiment, and the ruble strengthening over previous months. Proinflationary factors, including a contraction of output and imports of some non-food goods, increased costs, and high inflation expectations, had a smaller effect.

As compared to July, food prices edged down in all federal districts, which was mainly due to prices for fruit and vegetables. They became cheaper owing to the expansion of domestic output and imports, as well as the adjustment of prices after their rise last autumn and in March 2022. Furthermore, the increased output of agricultural crops and the enacted restrictions on exports contributed to the slowdown of the growth of prices for not only fruit and vegetables, but also many other food products.

As to non-food goods, the decrease in prices against July was most considerable in such categories as household appliances, electronic devices, and cars. This was associated with the continuing downward adjustment of prices after their surge in March, but the pace of the decrease slowed down.

Air transportation was the major contributor to the deceleration of the annual growth of prices for services in most regions. Contrastingly, prices for services in the Urals and Central Federal Districts edged up year-on-year, which was because these regions faced a considerable increase in prices for foreign travel.

More details on inflation in each Russian region are available in the information and analytical materials published on the Bank of Russia website.